Category: Uncategorized

Once again, thanks to all of you who have e-mailed me this week, in response to my panhandling posts. Many of you expressed that you are as fed up as I am, and many of you had some good ideas, some creative possible solutions.

Well, next week we’re going to have a place where we can all work together on this. My friend Mike King and I are in the process of setting up an online forum where the community can discuss the issue. Some of the things we hope to see posted there are

• Ideas for new laws to restrict panhandling – for example, some cities have enacted laws making panhandling illegal within 20 feet of outdoor or patio restaurant seating;
• Ideas for ways the city can better enforce the laws it already has
• Information on career and aggressive panhandlers who are known to cause problems Downtown. If we all share info, we may be able to learn some of these people’s real names, and find out if they have outstanding warrants that could get them off the streets.
• Information on where the real problem hotspots are in the area
• Ways to politicize the issue, and force the mayoral and City Council candidates to take a position on panhandling

The political candidates, by the way, will be invited to join the forum and participate. So will the upper brass of the downtown police precinct – Mike King and I already have a relationship with them, from when we formed Residents for a Safer Downtown Memphis last year and asked for their help with Downtown crime.

The forum should be ready early next week. We’re in the process of setting it up right now. We’re also discussing some rules to put in place to keep the quality of discussion high. If you sent me an e-mail in the past week about panhandling, you’ll be sent an invitation to join the forum when it’s ready – otherwise, just stay tuned to this blog, and I’ll be posting the info here.

Turns it WAS Snozberry that played the Peabody last night, not the Plaintiffs. I issued a correction yesterday because the Peabody’s website said the Plaintiffs were playing. Apologies for the misinformation.

If you’re looking for a job, next Thursday July 26 may be your lucky day. The Memphis Flyer will hold a Career Carnival at the Gibson Guitar Showcase from 10 to 4 PM. Some of the companies who will be there recruiting include FedEx, Aflac, Technicolor, Clear Channel, and the City of Memphis itself. Hey, you can work for Willie! Free parking will be available. See flyer below for more info – click the image to see it in full size.

The Plaintiffs are playing the Peabody rooftop tonight, not Snozberry as I earlier reported. Thanks Amy for catching that.

I want to thank all my readers who sent e-mails about the panhandling issue… this is clearly a hot topic Downtown. I also want to apologize to those to whom I did not respond – I got assigned a big web development project due July 31, and may have more work coming my way, so it looks like I’m going to be swamped the rest of the month.

The good news is, I think enough people at all levels – residents, community organizations, business owners – are getting fed up with panhandling to the degree that a tipping point is about to be reached. Once there I think we’ll see major changes which will go a long way to clean up the problem.

I’m having lunch with the Center City Commission’s new security coordinator on Monday. He wants to pick my brain about the kinds of things I’ve seen down here. I’ve had discussions with a couple of people at the CCC and believe me, they’re passionately committed to getting something done about this problem. It’s a good thing to see.

Because of the projects I’m working on, I probably won’t be out much Friday or Saturday night – although, I may make a quick trip to Blues City for a couple of hours Friday to see the Sauce Boss. I read in the Flyer that he’s doing a Sunday performance at the Union Mission, because he thinks it’s important to give back. That makes me respect him even more.

On the other hand, I’m treating tonight as my weekend night, because there’s plenty going on. Tentative plans for today:

• Memphis Flyer 3rd Thursday party at Swig 5-7
• Peabody rooftop with Snozberry. I’ll probably get there about 7 and stay until 8:30, 8:45ish
• The Saucer to see The Dempseys after that. They don’t start until 9:30 but maybe I’ll get a good seat if I get there early.

Looks like my favorite blogger/MILF won’t be coming downtown tonight after all, so I’ll take the week off from EP’s. Oh well… I just remembered that she tends to pretend she’s with Peyton Manning when she has sex, which decreases her attractiveness by 99.9994%. Ewwwww.

The beer tasting at the Flying Saucer last night was OUTSTANDING. Definitely worth the 25 bucks. Dogfish rep Devin Aroloski shared lots of valuable insight about the beers, and Saucer GM Kirk also did a lot to make the crowd feel at home. They had white tablecloths on the benches. My 5 favorite things about the tasting:

1. The Midas Touch, a brew based on ancient remnants of a brew found in a 2,700-year-old tomb. Tasted like honey. Otto commented: “It’s not a beer, it’s not a mead, it’s not a wine, it’s something completely different.” Since I finished my plate at the Saucer I rarely pay more than $5 for a beer, but I’d pay a premium for this one. One of the best I’ve ever tasted.
2. The Raison D’Etre pork tenderloin. Delicious. The fresh green beans on top were a nice touch.
3. The beef stew. This one took me by surprise – when I think of beef stew, I think of the canned Dinty Moore slop that Kroger sells for a buck a can. But the stew served by Dogfish was tasty and in a miniature bread bowl. Really, really good.
4. When the people at the next table finished their beers, and the waitress bent over to pick up the empty glasses.
5. The 120 IPA. At more than 18% alcohol, how could I not like this beer?

They said that the Midas Touch, 120 IPA, and Peche will be available for sale in this market soon.

If you missed last night’s tasting, there may still be tickets available for tonight’s tasting at the East Bumblefuck Saucer on Germantown Parkway. Four of the five beers are high-alcohol content, so you may want to arrange a designated driver if you go.

That’s all for now. Job hunters: Check back often, I have a post on the way which will be good news for you.

Downtown Proponents Respond to Panhandling – Daily News article on the panhandling problem downtown, and how the Center City Commission, a prosecutor, and the Environmental Court are responding.

Working from the Saucer this afternoon, after discovering that Sunset Wheat is the fire sale. Their Dogfish Head beer tasting with Devin “Who the fuck is Devin Aroloski” Aroloski is tonight at 8. Tickets are sold out, but they’re having another one at the East Bumblefuck Saucer on G-town Parkway tomorrow night, and let’s face it, Cordova culture being what it is, only a Budweiser tasting would sell out that place.

Hey, I dropped the f-bomb twice in one paragraph… can’t remember the last time that happened.

The tasting starts at 8, but I’m REALLY looking forward to being at the Saucer between 7 and 8 tonight. Why? Because they’ve put up signs saying “Beer Garden closed from 7:00 to 9:30 PM for beer tasting.” Know what’s awesome about that? It means that everyone but ticket-holders will have no place to go but the inside room… AND THE INSIDE ROOM IS NONSMOKING UNTIL 8 PM!!! So, for an hour, people who want to light up their filthy, nasty, disgusting cigarettes will have nowhere to go. I love it!

By the way… I’m making a new rule. As more and more bars go nonsmoking, I find that I have a new role – the guy who gets stuck holding everyone’s seats while they go to the other room or outside to smoke. Therefore, starting today

1) I will hold no more than the seats immediately to my left and right; and

2) If good-looking girls come up and ask if those seats are vacant, I’ll give those up too.

Other quick notes:

– DNA is doing a clean-up day at Court Square on Saturday at 9 AM. If you want to join them and help keep Downtown beautiful, I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

– If you’re a fan of Barbara Blue who sings at Silky O’Sullivan’s four days a week, she’ll be on the terrace of the Hunt-Phelan patio from 9:30 to midnight Friday-Saturday, July 20 and 21. Good chance to see her without having to venture onto Beale. I haven’t had a chance to check out Hunt-Phelan yet but I hear it is one classy place.

– Lots going on tomorrow night… the Memphis Flyer happy hour at Swig 5-7… Snozberry on the Peabody rooftop 6-10… Susan Marshall on the Madison rooftop 6-10… Garry Goin and G3 at EP’s 8-midnight… and of course The Dempseys at the Saucer 9:30-1. Normally it would be a slam-dunk that I’d be at the Saucer for the Dempseys, but it looks as though my favorite blogger/MILF may be at EP’s. Haven’t actually met her in person yet, and she rarely gets Downtown, so I may have to venture over there. Although I’m a bit disappointed to hear she isn’t doing “nooners” right now.

All right, battery’s down to 20%. Time to log off.

Big thanks to a couple of readers for helping me remember the term I couldn’t think of in my earlier panhandler posts – “authorization of agency.” That’s the form business owners can fill out against particular individuals, stating that those individuals are not allowed on their property, or within a certain distance from the outside of the business.

Once an authorization of agency has been filed against a particular person, he or she can be arrested for criminal trespassing if seen on the premises. This is true even if the business owner isn’t there – if a cop happens to walk by and sees the the person, he or she can be arrested on the spot.

I hung out in a coffee shop downtown all the time a few years ago… the owner had authorizations of agency filed against many of the bums, and he rarely had trouble with panhandling in front of his shop. I remember a comment he made to me, that if all the Downtown businesses banded together and filed authorizations of agency against all the bums, then they wouldn’t have anywhere left to beg.

Now, the thing is, in order to file an AofA against a person, you have to know their name. That’s an opportunity to Downtowners to band together and help one another, if we all share information about these guys. For over a year friends and I have kicked around an idea of a panhandler photo album online. The idea started as a joke, but now I’m wondering if this could turn out to be something really useful in taking our neighborhood back from the bums.

What do you think? E-mail me if you have ideas on how we could work together.

Today I was walking around Court Square taking more pics of the “locals,” and off in the distance I noticed this new restaurant at the intersection of Third and Court:

It’s called Roma Pizza, Pasta, Subs & Philly Cheese Steak and a sign in the window says it will be open soon. If you click on the image to view it in full size, you can see some of the menu items they have planned – Italian dishes mostly.

The Memphis Flyer is hosting 3rd Thursday, a pre-rooftop party at Swig from 5 to 7 PM this Thursday, July 19. Free hors d’ouevres, drink specials, prizes, entertainment. The Flyer always throws good parties, so it should be worth it to drop by.